Now that my time at uni is coming to an end, I need to start thinking about what my plans are for my future career.
I am planning on working as a sole trader doing freelance illustration and continuing with my small online shop selling cards, prints and other items of my work.
Due to already having a shop and selling at craft fairs and markets, I have already registered as self employed and sorted out that side of things, so I can get straight on with what I want to do without worrying about that.
My first step is try and get my work seen by as many people as possible. I plan on creating a new piece of self promotion and sending it out to lots of book publishers, magazines etc. I aim to make a start on this during the two weeks in the beginning of June where out work is being marked. I'm not sure yet exactly what I plan on sending, but it will consist of work from this current project, and will be in a similar format to what I produced for the Self Promotion unit.
I would also love to have a book published, and will be sending the finished artwork of my current book to any suitable publishers once uni is finished. I'll be starting with Nobrow as they recently re-opened their submissions and I want to get my work sent to them as son as possible before they close them again.
I have already begun to establish a small online shop, and last year I was accepted to sell my work at Renegade Craft Fair in London, and I also have some of my cards stocked in a few small retailers. This is something I thoroughly enjoy and I would like to take this further in the near future. At the moment my shop sells a small selection of screen printed cards, prints and stationery. However during this project I have really enjoyed working digitally and using fairytales and narratives as inspiration, and I have a few ideas for products to add to my shop. These include small fanzines based on fairytales, colouring books, paper dolls of my character designs etc. I'll be making a start on this right away and hope to apply for Renegade again this year as well as any other events that might be suitable for my work.
In July my partner and I will be moving to Dartford to allow him to work in London as a film editor, and being close to London will be very useful for me to visit small shops that may be interested in stocking my work. It will also allow me to sell at various markets and fairs in London, as showing my portfolio to potential employers.
In order to achieve these things it is important that as many people as possible can see my work and are aware of what I do. I believe having a good online presence is very useful for this, and that is something I have worked quite hard n over the last 2 years. I have a profile on all the suitable social media sites (Behance, Tumblr, LinkedIn, Twitter etc.) and regularly update with images of my work and what I'm doing. I also have a newsletter with a number of subscribers, a blog and a few "online friends" in the industry. In November last year I attended a "Bloggers and Illustrators" meet up in London, and met a few people there that are already working in the industry. These contacts will be useful in the future for advice and guidance if needed.
Earlier in the year I set up my own website, linking to al my other sites and showing a gallery of my work. I think this has helped to tie everything together and create a more professional image of myself as an illustrator. I have plans to update my website after this project, and add more of my work to the galleries.
As for personal work, I aim to continue along a similar theme to what I have been doing. Earlier in the project I purchased a book of the Grimm's fairy tales, and I would love to read through it in depth and try illustrating some of the stories I am less familiar with. I would also like to produce more typographical work and repeat patterns, as these are both things that I am interested in but haven't had much opportunity during this project.
As for personal work, I aim to continue along a similar theme to what I have been doing. Earlier in the project I purchased a book of the Grimm's fairy tales, and I would love to read through it in depth and try illustrating some of the stories I am less familiar with. I would also like to produce more typographical work and repeat patterns, as these are both things that I am interested in but haven't had much opportunity during this project.
I'm looking forward to getting started on all of these things and am eager to begin working as soon as possible. By the end of the year I hope to have expanded my shop, sold at several events, and begun working freelance.